Call him what you will; “Mr. Insurance”, “Mr. Reliable”, it really doesn’t matter. Earnest Graham is a pure football player. At 31 years old he has proven that he’s still got something left in the tank. His 109 yard rushing performance against the Saints was evidence that he can still be an effective tailback in this league. He hasn’t had the wear and tear of other backs his age. He has only been a starter for one year in his career. That was in 2007 and he would easily have gone over a thousand yards if he hadn’t gotten hurt. He did an amazing job but when Cadillac Williams came back Graham was put back on the shelf. Then he was moved to fullback and he never complained. He just became the best fullback on the team despite being undersized for the position.
Graham may very well be the most underrated player in the NFL. Everyone thought that we were dead meat going into the Saints game. Coming off a 45-point loss in San Francisco, without LeGarrette Blount, we stood no chance. We would become one-dimensional and our play-action would have no bite. Wrong. All Graham did was average 6.4 yards per carry with a long of 34 yards. It was a much better average than Blount has this year. So, call him what you will. The fact of the matter is that he is a lifesaver. Yes, it is still early but if New Orleans wins they have a two game lead in the division. Then we are already starting to think wild card for the playoffs. Now we are sitting atop the NFC South instead. Thank you Mr. Graham.